Wine Splurge

Keep in mind that what constitutes a value-priced wine versus a splurge is purely subjective. I consider anything at about $15 a bottle and under to be a good everyday wine, between $15 and the high $20s something I might enjoy on a weekly basis, and $30 and up as more of a splurge.

Your definition of splurge may differ, although I think that as you gain more experience tasting wine, your "splurge point" will gradually grow higher as your palate becomes more sophisticated.

- by DAN RADIL a wine enthusiast who lives in Bellingham. Reach him at danthewineguy.com.

Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/02/15/1849799/in-a-mood-to-splurge-sample-these.html#ixzz1Eyz22Ilj

TIP:

Our sensory reactions are affected by the depth of our knowledge. If you want to enjoy your wine more fully, simply learn a bit about it. You won't just think about the wine differently, you will actually taste it differently.

TIP:

When you are presenting wine as a gift, consider enriching the experience for the receiver; perhaps include a card with tasting notes or maybe a recipe with which to pair the wine, or even a favorite quotation. This is a thoughtful way to add to the enjoyment of the gift.

Proper Wine Storage

The two biggest dangers to wine are wide temperature fluctuations and high temperatures for a sustained period of time. For wines that you plan to consume in the next week to the next year, which will probably be most of your wine, a dark, low-vibration closet in a home or apartment with a normal household temperature of 68 to 72 degrees is fine. It’s also wise to store your wine on its side, so that the wine remains in contact with the cork and keeps the cork from drying out. Actually, the color and thickness of the wine bottle itself are inherently a great help in protecting the wine as well.

For your high-end wines that merit bottle aging before consumption, you need to be more concerned about storing your wines in a proper temperature- and humidity-controlled environment. Unless you have hundreds of these elite bottles and can afford to build your own cellar, a refrigerated wine storage unit is probably your best bet. Unlike a standard refrigerator, these units keep wine at an ideal temperature of about 55 degrees and 70 percent humidity, with a minimum of vibration.

Wine trivia

Wine has so many organic chemical compounds it is considered more complex than blood serum.

The lip of a red wine glass is sloped inward to capture the aromas of the wine and deliver them to your nose.

Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

In King Tut's Egypt (around 1300 BC), the commoners drank beer and the upper class drank wine.

When Leif Ericsson landed in North America in A.D. 1001, he was so impressed by the proliferation of grapevines that he named it Vinland.

When Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in volcanic lava in A.D. 79, it also buried more than 200 wine bars.

The top three U.S. wine consumption states: California, New York, and Florida.

58 percent of legal-aged Americans contacted in a Nielson phone survey indicated that they drink wine.

Red wines represent 55 percent of restaurant wine sales.

The average cost of the grapes used to produce a $20 bottle of wine is $2.64.

A bottle of opened wine stored in the refrigerator lasts 6-16 times longer than it would if stored at room temperature.

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Tip:

Potential is important in scoring a wine because a wine that is too young may not taste very good now, but it may have the potential to become one of the greats - snatch it up while it is inexpensive!

Story of the Grape

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